The growth rate of Chinese blockchain talent is relatively low in comparison to the total global rate of 76% year-on-year, a joint research project conducted by LinkedIn and OKX exchange has shown.

The research is based on talent data from LinkedIn’s business and employment-oriented service covering more than 10 relevant sectors. They include blockchain, cryptography, quantum computing, distributed ledgers, Bitcoin, consensus mechanisms, and consensus protocols. Others are cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer networks, Ethereum, smart contracts, game theory, and decentralized applications. Authors used computer-related majors, open-source public chain R&D, consensus mechanisms, cryptography, DeFi, and other job keywords to filter the talent sample. An in-depth analysis of blockchain industry talent was then conducted based on the samples across 180 countries between January 2019 and June 2022.

The research finds that the U.S., India, and China make up the top three blockchain talent countries, but China’s talent growth rate is relatively low at 12%. According to the data, China’s pace is nowhere compared to other countries that make up the top 10 in terms of talent growth rate. Countries like India and Canada have a relatively high growth rate of over 100%, 122%, and 106%, respectively, while Singapore is at 92%. It should be noted that the most popular occupations in the top five global blockchain talents are cryptocurrency traders, software engineers, analysts, support analysts, and account managers.

Whereas, in terms of demand, China still makes the top list – alongside the U.S., India, Germany, and France – of the world’s top countries where relevant job postings are mainly concentrated.

“With China’s talent demand growth rate reaching as high as 60% year-on-year, China’s talent growth rate is much lower than the talent demand growth rate,” it states. “It is worth noting that among the top 10 blockchain talent countries, the blockchain job postings in the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada, and other countries are multiplying in 2021. Among them, Canada has the highest growth rate of 560%, followed by Singapore (180%) and India (145%). The United States and Germany are growing at 82%, and China at 78%. LinkedIn Talent Insights show that these countries continue to maintain growth in demand for talent based on the number of job postings in the first half of 2022.”

On a continental grouping basis, four of the top 10 blockchain talent-gathering countries are from Asia while Europe has three positions. The total number of talents in the United States, which ranks first, far exceeds that of India and China.

LinkedIn says it had more than 850 million members worldwide as of June 2022 from more than 200 countries and territories. The China data is based on the number of members in the country at the time – over 57 million – following LinkedIn’s announced expansion into China in 2014. LinkedIn later launched its “LinkedIn Careers” in mainland China in December 2021 to connect users with career opportunities and help employers find the ideal candidates in the Chinese market.

The report identifies blockchain as a key technology for solving complex and prospective problems it recognizes that the industry has matured and enterprises are now attaching greater importance to establishing the underlying ecosystem and product innovation. It also highlighted that technical talent is at the core of the industry’s focus and demand citing the “2020–2021 China Blockchain Education and Talent Development Report” by 01Caijing which indicated that technical management talents are “highly sought after” with at least one in five people being hired for management roles.

With global demand for blockchain technology talent projected to be growing at an annual rate of 300–500%, even as its industry development gradually matures bringing new job openings to the already-increasing demand for all existing talent types, the report recommends the importance of forming a hybrid talent team and properly nurturing the skills and potential of core talent.